After another thrilling round of Carabao Cup fixtures, football fans now know the two teams that have booked their place at Wembley for the showpiece event.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool have reached the Final of the competition for the first time since 2016 after they defeated Arsenal 2-0 on aggregate.
Chelsea will join them. Thomas Tuchel’s side were victorious in emerging 3-0 aggregate winners over London rivals Tottenham Hotspur to ensure their place in the final on February 27.
Let’s take a look back at the action from the Carabao Cup Semi-Finals:
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur (Chelsea won 3-0 on aggregate)
Chelsea v Tottenham Hotspur at Stamford Bridge was the opening act of the Carabao Cup Semi-Finals. And within 35 minutes of the first leg, the Blues were in total control.
On five minutes, Marcos Alonso capitalised on a poor pass from Japhet Tanganga to steal in ahead of Emerson Royal and stride forwards. From there, he laid the ball off to Kai Havertz, who smashed the ball in at the near post.
Spurs were then the victims of an unfortunate incident in the penalty area. Tanganga’s attempted clearance header from a Chelsea free-kick cannoned into his own team-mate, Ben Davies, and found its way into the net.
The Blues had other opportunities to extend their lead, with Romelu Lukaku coming close with a header. Harry Kane, meanwhile, forced a save out of Kepa Arrizabalaga at the other end. However, the scores stayed the same at the full-time whistle, and Chelsea had a two-goal advantage heading into the second leg.
Tottenham were looking to secure their place in the Carabao Cup Final for the second consecutive year. To do that, they needed a strong start in the second leg. But it was Thomas Tuchel‘s side who struck first.
On 18 minutes, Antonio Rudiger got on the end of Mason Mount’s cross ahead of Spurs goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and powered his header into the back of the net.
Chelsea then controlled the game on their way to booking their ticket at Wembley. Spurs could not gain control of the ball for extended periods and could only manage three shots on target as the Blues got the better of their London rivals.
Liverpool v Arsenal (Liverpool won 2-0 on aggregate)
Liverpool and Arsenal were due to play the first leg of their Carabao Cup Semi-Finals clash on January 6 at the Emirates Stadium, but the game was postponed due to Covid-19.
They instead first played out what was due to be the second leg on January 13. Within 24 minutes, the Gunners were down to 10 men after Granit Xhaka was shown a straight red card after bringing down Diogo Jota with a high boot.
The rest of the game primarily saw Liverpool trying to break Arsenal down. But despite Takumi Minamino and Curtis Jones coming close, Jurgen Klopp‘s side couldn’t find the opening goal. Bukayo Saka almost then gave Arsenal a crucial advantage with 20 minutes to play. However, his effort was blocked by Alisson.
Arsenal started brightly in the second leg at the Emirates Stadium. Alexandre Lacazette hit the bar with an early free-kick.
However, it was the Reds who opened the scoring. Embarking on a long solo run, Jota beat Takehiro Tomiyasu. He then cut inside and squeezed the ball beyond Ramsdale in the Arsenal goal.
The Portuguese forward then put the game beyond doubt on 77 minutes. Latching on to an exquisite lofted through ball from Trent Alexander-Arnold, he charged forward and lofted the ball over Ramsdale. The goal was initially ruled out for offside, but VAR overturned the decision. Klopp’s side held on to book their place at Wembley.
The Carabao Cup Final takes place on February 27 at Wembley, with the kick-off time to be confirmed.
Make sure you head over to the EFL’s official website to find out more about match tickets, the history of the Carabao Cup and the Goal of the Round winners!
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Featured Image Credit: Getty
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